I just purchased an Allen-Heath-ZED22FX-USB mixer, and I think I am really going to like it.
http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/pr ... sku=580320
A couple of bummers:
No sub-groups
Only two pre Aux sends
But lots of good stuff!
The quality of sound is awesome, seamless. It is a very straight forward easy to operate board. The built in effects work great with sends available to both mains and monitors. The USB port is a great option. It came packaged with Sonar LE. I love the 100mm faders, smooth as silk. The overall construction quality is outstanding.
The always amazing Oddioguy has found a mod to convert the 3rd Aux send from post to pre so I can have three independent monitor feeds! The 4th Aux send is designated for the internal FX.
I used it for the first time at a gig on Friday. We run two 15" 600watt powered Mackies for FOH and four 12" 400watt powered Behringer speakers for monitors. A great little system, a simple setup for small to medium size rooms. The quality of FOH sound with this board and the Mackies was just pristine!!!! The monitors work great as well.
I have EQ's for FOH and each monitor send and a compressor/gate ordered but the system sounded great without the essential icing on the cake.
I have not used the ZED in my home studio yet but I look forward to doing so and will keep you all posted on anything I run into in that application.
Overall I think this board is great bang for the buck!